


But I wasn't tired!

by Nyctolovian



Series: Voltron Hurt/Comfort Bingo 2018 [9]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (hows that not a tag what), Arguing, Canon Compliant, Conflict, Conflict Resolution, Exhaustion, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lectures, Light Angst, Platonic Relationships, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Sleep Deprivation, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Team Voltron Family, Voltron Bingo 2018, insomniac pidge, random point in the timeline, worrying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 08:15:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16740355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyctolovian/pseuds/Nyctolovian
Summary: Keith finds out that Pidge was up all night, and the two get into an argument. Shiro is dragged into resolve the conflict, and deeper insecurities are revealed.Keith's face was dark with rage. "You were up all night.”





	But I wasn't tired!

**Author's Note:**

> Bingo Card: [Hurt/Comfort](https://nyctolovian.tumblr.com/post/180486714508/but-i-wasnt-tired-nyctolovian-voltron)  
> Prompt: Exhaustion
> 
> I for one am also exhausted so I'm keeping this short. Hi picking this up. This was for voltron bingo and I'm sorta sleep deprived as we speak. Why? I'm a nervous kid too ahaha!

“The fuck?!”

Pidge jumped and looked behind to see Keith staring at her. “Dude, you scared the shit out of me! Why aren’t you asleep yet?” she said as she continued to type away on her laptop. And it was strange to see Keith at the bridge. Usually, when he couldn’t sleep at night, he’d be at the training room.

He charged over. “That’s what I should be asking you, Pidge! I just woke up.”

“Oh, was it a nightmare?” she asked, stretching her back.

“It’s morning, Pidge.”

Frowning, she whipped around to stare at Keith. “What? No way.” She pulled up her taskbar and looked at the time. “Oh god. You’re right.”

Keith's face was dark with rage. "You were up all night.”

She laughed nervously. “I really didn’t realise at all. Well, you can’t really blame me! We’re out in space! What even is morning and night when it’s always dark right outside?” she said as she gestured towards the windows, where the vast dark space lay.

“That’s not an excuse. Allura set the lights in the castle to follow our circadian clock.”

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry, okay?” she mumbled.

Clearly, Pidge’s defiant tone added fuel to Keith’s anger. “Just ‘sorry’ doesn’t cut it, Pidge. You need to rest. Do you understand that you’re a paladin? Zarkon isn’t going to give you a break just because you decided to deprive yourself of sleep.”

Pidge yelled, “Of course I know that! But I wasn’t tired!”

“You have at least 16 more hours to stay awake for! How the hell are you going to get through it?” Keith shouted back. “How many hours will that make it? 33 hours without sleep?”

“I’ll be fine!”

Keith huffed. “No, you won’t. You’re going to collapse.”

Pidge’s blood boiled. “Want to bet?”

 

* * *

 

“Shiro,” Keith said as he squatted down beside the black paladin during their break. “I screwed up.”

The disappointment on Shiro’s face was definitely not something Keith had wanted to see but it was to be expected, to be honest. “What is it now?” Shiro said as he placed his spork down.

“So, Pidge stayed up all night.”

“All night?!” He sighed. “That explains the eyebags and all the unusually careless mistakes she’s been making the entire morning.”

Keith said, “Yeah, I blew up at her when I found out. And she insisted she was fine and we got into this really big argument. Then, she bet that she could stay up till the end of today.”

Shiro leaned back and sighed, knowing what would come next. “Oh no.”

“And I was angry so I bet that she couldn’t.”

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Shiro groaned, “So she refuses to sleep now?”

Guilt was written all over his face.

With a grunt, Shiro got to his feet. “I’m going to talk to her, alright? You are coming with me.”

Keith nodded without a word and walked behind him, tail between his legs.

Shiro approached Pidge who was sitting at the corner of the room. She looked much too tired to only have trained for two hours. When she noticed the two other paladins, she jerked upright and widened her eyes. She adjusted her posture and gave Keith a challenging glare. When Keith didn’t meet it with a stare of his own, she looked puzzled. Then, it hit her.

“Pidge,” Shiro began, “I heard from Keith that you stayed up all night.”

At that, Pidge groaned. “Seriously, Keith? You went to tell on me?”

Shiro sat down cross-legged in front of her, and Keith followed suit. “Look, we are just worried. We’ve always let you sleep at whatever time you wanted, provided you still had a reasonable amount of sleep. We can’t dictate when you should or shouldn’t sleep after all. But pulling an all-nighter is definitely not acceptable. You’re a growing child. You need your sleep.”

“But I’m fine!” Pidge protested. “Look, I was doing fine, wasn’t I?” She stood up, but she swayed slightly.

Keith shot to his feet as he reached out his arms to steady her. But Pidge slapped his  hands away.

“Katie.” Shiro’s voice was firm.

That made her flinch. Slowly, she sat back down. Keith sighed in relief and did the same.

“I promised myself to keep you safe. I don’t want to be the one to deliver any bad news to Commander Holt if anything happened to you,” Shiro said. His sincerity spilled into every word just as his concern did. “You need to take care of yourself. You want to find Commander Holt and Matt, right? Then, you need to make sure you are ready to meet whatever obstacles that come your way, not create more for yourself. If you are overcome by exhaustion, how will you have the energy to search for your brother and father?”

Her hands were clenched in fists. “Of course I want to find them. Of course I want to have enough rest and energy. Of course I want to sleep. But-” She was choking on her own words now. Then, it all spilled out like a dam, “I was trying to find them last night. You know the information we received from the Blade of Marmora? I was going through all that last night! I’m trying my best to find them, Shiro, but nothing seems to be working! I know that it’s bad that I don’t get enough sleep but it scares me at night when I think about the possibility that- that I might not find them.” She curled into herself and buried her face in her arms. “I really don’t know if I can find them, even if I try my best.”

For a moment, Shiro fell silent. He looked at Pidge, eyes full of sympathy, as he tried to find the right words to say.

Keith was the first to speak. “I-I was like that. For a while.” He glanced up at Pidge, who watched him with wide eyes. “When Shiro… was gone.”

Shiro sighed. “Oh, Keith…”

“Not going to lie, but things were pretty terrible. I couldn’t sleep either so I get what you’re going through,” Keith said, rubbing his fingers nervously. “But… something I learnt is that, um… if you’re pushing yourself too much, you’re… not exactly doing your best anymore. There’s boundary between trying your best and pushing yourself too hard.” He drew a line on the floor with his finger before tapping the ground beyond the imaginary line. “And… And I think you’re way past it, Pidge. Does… Does that make sense?”

“Kinda,” she replied.

“If you can’t sleep at night, or you’re just really scared or worried or something, you can come to us, you know?”

Shiro nodded. “We’re all insomniacs around here.”

“Except Lance,” Pidge quipped.

He sighed. “Except Lance,” he repeated enviously before continuing, “So don’t hesitate to come find us if you can’t sleep. Then, we can figure something out together. I think even Lance would gladly talk to you if you need it.”

“More like he’ll talk me to sleep.”

Keith snickered and Shiro rolled his eyes. “My point is this,” Shiro said. “We care about you. And we’ll drag you into bed if we need to. So don’t push yourself too hard. Give yourself breaks. And if you ever need anything from us, just knock on our doors. We’ll figure things out with you, alright?”

Pidge nodded.

“Now,” Shiro said, “Keith, what should you say when you say something you didn’t mean?”

“Oh, uh…” He rubbed his fingers. “Sorry, Pidge. For betting that you won’t make it through the day. And yelling at you.”

“And Pidge?”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you even though I knew you were just trying to get me to take care of myself. That was pretty shitty of me.”

“Language,” Shiro reminded.

Pidge corrected herself, “Bad of me.”

Shiro patted both their backs. “Alright, the two of you need to manage your temper. And,” he looked at Pidge, “you are to go to bed at 10pm sharp for the next week.”

She groaned loudly.

“That’s what you get if you aren’t responsible with your sleep schedule. Now, go to bed right now and get your rest.”

“Alright.” She got to her feet and added, “Dad.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, come find me on my tumblr [here](https://nyctolovian.tumblr.com). I post stuff there sometimes and talk there so come find me! And pls leave me some kudos and comments here too! I live for feedback :)


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